I've started reading Pratchett, and he is totally hilarious. I still can't say he beats J.K. Rowling or Tolkien, however--there's a three-way tie.

IMO, Pratchett's more original then Rowling... The Discworld books sort of have everything. Does that make sense?

 Tolkien, Tolkien. . .he's a great author, it's just that I prefer Pratchett's writing style... But that's just a matter of opinion, so it's irrelevant. 

I think Tolkien's books are the best works of fiction I've ever read, except maybe a few short stories by Ursula K. LeGuin. Pratchett's books are definitely up there, though. I love the Harry Potter series, but I don't really think it compares to Tolkien or Pratchett.

Anyway, while I was gone, I finally got around to reading The Silmarillion all the way through. It was dense reading, and I did sometimes have to be patient, even though that didn't happen with The Hobbit and LotR for me, but... wow. I think it was the most beautiful thing I've ever read.

I'm reading Unfinished Tales now, although I'm still on the first one. It's really neat to read a story for the first time in The Silmarillion and then get to read a much more detailed version a few days (or maybe it was closer to a week) later. As my brother put it, The Silm was really impersonal, and this story is written more in the personal style of LotR. I love getting to read it both ways and compare and contrast, and it does show why the Silm had to be written the way it was--it would have been thousands of pages otherwise.

I plan to order as many as possible of Tolkien's other books from the library, but in the meantime, I want to reread The Hobbit and LotR again. It's been quite a while since the last time I reread them.

IMHO, Pratchett, Rowling, and Tolkein all have their own place in the Great Writers of the World, but they cannot really be compared to each other. Each has his/her own style and story, and they are all good, though not in the same way. 

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE SILMARILLION. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT AND PLAN TO DO SO IN THE FUTURE, AND YOU DON'T LIKE KNOWING THE PLOT OF A BOOK BEFORE READING IT, DON'T READ THIS POST.

There was just one thing that I didn't like about The Silmarillion. At one point, Varda cast a spell on the Silmarils so that if anyone evil could touch it, their hands would burn. Earlier in the book, there was a contraversy over Melkor had actually turned good or was just pretending; if Varda can cast that sort of spell, why didn't she cast it on, say, a floor, tell Morgoth what she'd done, and explain that if he stepped on the floor without any part of him burning, he could go free (having proved his goodness) but keep him imprisoned as long as he couldn't? Preferably, it would only cause temporary burns; otherwise, the test could only be done once, because he could hide his pain at being burned a second time, and it might not have any visible effects. But really, there was a simple way totest whether or not they should let Morgoth go, and she didn't even think of it. I'm talking about the wife of Manwe, who knows more than anyone except Iluvatar; with him, she can hear more than anyone else ever, which is bound to give her lots of kknowledge, which you'd think would in turn give her wisdom. I know she's supposed to have it because she's a Vala. But she clearly didn't know anything about the scientific method.

That said, it's only one flaw in the entire amazing book.

I loved "The Hobbit"!!!  The adventure of Bilbo was so exciting.  I also loved the "The Fellowship of the Ring" (the first of the trilogy)...You ought to read at least those two.